Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 140,553 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 28.6% during the first quarter, now owning 350,933 shares worth about $54.83 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock, decreasing his ownership by 1.25%, while insiders collectively sold 249,409 shares valued at approximately $43.5 million over the past ninety days.
• Alphabet's stock has a consensus target price of $215.19, with analysts giving it an average rating of "Moderate Buy" after it reported earnings per share of $2.31, beating expectations by 19 cents.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 350,933 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 140,553 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,300,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Kidder Stephen W boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 3,608 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $687,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Objectivity Squared LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,605,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,263,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $2.03 on Tuesday, reaching $195.45. The stock had a trading volume of 10,833,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,193,873. The business's 50-day moving average price is $177.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.